My thoughts on Dynamics AX application development.
I have been working as a consultant with Microsoft ERP-technology since 1994.
Currently I work at Optimate ApS.
My main focus is customization and application development.
This blog is merely my place to put stuff that I want to remember.
If anybody can benefit from reading this, that's great :0).
Feel free to use any code snippets posted - but accept that you do this at your own risk!!!

onsdag den 9. december 2009

DYNAMICS AX Import Export Tool - digging a bit deeper.

Normally when I've used the export/import-tool in AX, it's because you want to dump data from a small database and import it in another environment, or if you wantto install some sort of demonstration database in an environment.

Up until now, if I've been presented with a task of importing data into a customers environment, i've always programmed some sort of class that handles the import.

A couple of weeks ago, a colleague of mine showed me that the import/export tool, can be used for the same task - that is importing data, from e.g. a .csv-file, that your customer prepared in Excel.

I was thrilled to discover that I do not actually always need to make a class to import data in a specific (or more specific) table(s).

The procedure is:

1) Create your own Definition group - make sure it is empty by removing all checkmarks on the Set up and include table groups tabs pages, and choose the type User defined.Save the def. group.

2) Now click the Table setup button. Choose the table that you want to import data into. Choose the import status delete and import (if you want to clear the table of data before you import), or just import. Set up the file name of the file containing the data.

3) On the general tab you can specify field delimiter (in my case ; for a .csv-file).

4) On the Conversion tab you can actually write x++ code, that will be compiled and executed for each line in the file that is read in. In the method you get a table buffer of the table you choose in step 2, and a container containing all the fields read from the file.This means you can make custom transformation, and even create records in related tables if you want, while at the same time importing data in to the chosen table.You can let the compiler parse the code to verify syntax before saving the definition.

5) Using the last tabpage on the form, you can have the first record read from the file and shown to you where the values read are mapped to the fields chosen in step 6.

6) Using the button Field setup you can map the fields/values read from the file, to the fields of the table chosen in step 2.Even on the field level you can write conversion code similar to the code mentioned in step 4.

All this works very nicely for importing data.

Now I've used this for making imports in the supply chain modules, Invent locations, wms locations, planning data and Item coverage data, preparing the go-live at a customer site.This was done in a test environment.

When the customer had verified the test data, we wanted to move the import templates created using the above steps, to the live production environment, to make the "real" import.

How to be done ?

Moving the import-definition between environments (test and production) is done by exporting data in the tables:

SysExpImpGroup (which contains the definition group)SysExpImpTable (which contains the tables of the def. group)SysExpImpField (which contains the fields of the tables of the def. group)And maybeSysExpImpQuery (which contains any Export criteria - if used).

One little problem with the abovementiond procedure of moving the SysExpImp table.

When you import the exported data, the code you write in the conversion tab pages will be messed up. The import process apparently strips all newlines in the code.

You'll have to go through the conversion code and insert linebreaks after each semicolon, after import. Otherwise the import will not function correctly !!!